MASHA ALLEN

I have been hearing rumors that this case is going to blow the adoption industry wide open. I have read James Marsh's blog and the Daily Bastardette. I get hints of what is going on. Its now enough for me to look into this horrifying menagarie of adoption. These folks have done an excellent job of telling the story behind this case. I want to expand the story a tiny bit. The Bastardette had hinted at adoption being a pedophile adoption play book. I had asked her if this was for real. Because if it was, it was real fucking scary. I know inappropriate language but really its absolutely terrifying.



After reviewing the opinions of Jeannene Smith from David Kruchkow , Fleas Biting, and Elizabeth Case along with the other two bloggers, how is it that this woman still has a connection to adoption, gives a legal opinion on adoption, and influences the adoption reform movement is totally beyond me. Families Through International Adoption is licensed in the state of Indiana. This is the connection to Indiana. That is where she worked for them. Of course Indiana has not shut them down nor her.

Jeannene Smith was part of Families Through International Adoption until Keith Wallace fired her. She then began her own agency, Reaching Out Through International Adoption. (They are now called Child Promise,Inc) Both of these folks were tied to Masha's child profile study. Everything I have read on James Marsh's blog tells me that both of these folks KNEW exactly what was going on.

Reaching Out Through International Adoption is now called Child Promise. It looks like they have changed the name of their agency. This is where James' link took me. On the front page of their website, it states that they are no longer accepting applications. Interesting. Very interesting. I click over to the about us link. I read a few things that make me think. They do adoptions from the very countries that are having issues with corruption and coercion right now. Is that the reason why they are shut down?


ChildPromise, Inc. was founded in 1998 by Jeannene and Don Smith as Reaching Out thru International Adoption, Inc. Although the Smiths are no longer part of the organization or corporation, their commitment to their work created permanent families for over 460 children. Many more were positively affected here and in their countries of birth by their work in the areas of adoption reform, child advocacy, humanitarian aid and legislative issues.


Adoption reform, child advocacy and legislative issues concern me. Jeannene Smith was involved in facilitating Masha Allen's adoption by pedophile, Matthew Mancuso. When she testified, she scattered the blame everywhere else but her. More on that later.


The board members now are enough to be concerned as well. There is one ACLU attorney also an adoptive parent through Guatemala. Three others are adoptive parents as well. There is actually a natural parent who is one of those adoptive parents on this board too. Their profiles are listed below. The former ACLU attorney solidifies why they are against adoptee access. They know that their buddies are doing wrong in adoption. Rather than stand up and do the right thing, they rather cover for the former ACLU attorney who has done wrong. This shows that their loyalty is not with the children. To them adoption is about the money.


Ian Grodman, Esq.
President Board 5/2007 to present
Board Member 8/2005 to present
Graduate of Rutgers University School of Law and the State University of New York. Partner in Vag & Grodman, a law firm specializing in immigration law. In addition has served as an advocate for children in the foster care system, a staff attorney for the American Civil Liberties Union, and been commended for representation of domestic violence victims. He is the former vice mayor of Maplewood, New Jersey, where he and his family are actively engaged in the community. He is the father of two children, one of whom came to his family through adoption from Guatemala.


Mary Ellen McLaughlin
Board member 1/07 - present
Adoptive parent, Kazakhstan (1)
BA in Telecommunication Arts from The University of Dayton, MBA in Marketing from NYU. Publisher of TIME For Kids magazine, manager of The Wall Street Journal Classroom (1) Edition, currently VP of Advertising and Custom Publishing at DC Comics.


Cynthia V. N. Peck
Board member 1/07 - present
Adoptive parent Korea, US, Vietnam (9)
BA in English at Beaver College, MA in Educational Psychology At Kean College. Doctoral Program at Rutgers University. Served on Boards of Directors of JCICS, Focus on Adoption and Love the Children, Inc.. Co-founded Seedlings, Inc. in NJ and served as Executive Director. Retired. Previous Executive Director- Reaching Out thru International Adoption, Inc.


Susan Baer
Board member 1/07 to present
Biological Parent (1) & Adoptive parent Guatemala (2)
General Manager of JFK Airport. Previously GM of Newark International Airport & LaGuardia Airport. Bachelor's degree in Urban Studies and Anthropology Barnard College and a MBA from New York University. Serves on numerous non-profit boards.



Now it makes that website called Medical Adoptions all too real. Maybe instead of calling it Medical Adoptions, they should just call it Child Promise,Inc.



According Marsh, the JCICS allowed the Reaching Out Through International Adoption to resign when he filed a complaint against them. They closed shop as that and reopened six months later as Child Promise. It seems like when you squash one bug another opens up right behind it.



When the leading organizations like the National Council for Adoption and Joint Council on International Child Services allow these organizations to shut down and reopen up under another name, are they really saving just one and at the cost of how many?



Lets look at Families Through International Adoption. Most of their team members are from Indiana. Its scary knowing how deeply entrenched they are in Indiana. They have folks who graduated from several Indiana Universities. This agency is also involved with countries that are having issues with adoption. Another icky thing here is that their wives are involved in this business too. YUCK. Here are their team members.



Keith M. Wallace - Executive Director / CEO


I am responsible for overall direction and supervision of FTIA. I spend time presenting informational meetings, traveling overseas to maintain our programs and contacts, developing humanitarian aid projects, maintaining our web site, and contacting the CIS/INS, among other things.
Most importantly, I consider myself an advocate for adopting parents and the children we serve. I am a law school graduate from Valparaiso University School of Law and I taught law as a Foreign Expert in China in 1990 - 1991. I am active in both international and domestic adoptions and I am a member of the American Academy of Adoption Attorneys, American Immigration Lawyers Association, and Christian Legal Society.
I volunteer for many children-related activities including serving on the Board for Impact Ministries which serves inner city youth. I enjoy running, reading, and hanging out with kids.



Chris Huber - Director of Program Development


As the Assistant Director of Programs, I currently supervise our Guatemala and Brazil adoption programs and I am involved in developing new programs in Latin America. I have also worked extensively in developing the software and on line resources used by all country programs at FTIA. As an adult adoptee and adoptive father, I am very passionate about adoption and the opportunity it provides children to have a loving permanent home. Besides my responsibilities at FTIA, I am also active in different national adoption advocacy groups.
I have four children, Anne Marie, Libby, C.J., and Luis, who was adopted from Guatemala in February 2004. I have lived and worked in Central and South America for over 15 years which provides me a good insight into the cultures of the countries where we work. In my free time I enjoy bicycling and reading



Maury Reising - Waiting Children Senior Coordinator


I am the Senior Waiting Children Coordinator and work with the China and Guatemala teams. My responsibilities include communicating regularly with families, supporting them in the adoption process, and assisting them with paperwork, travel information, and providing emotional support. I love working with children with special needs and the families!
I graduated from the University of Evansville with a Bachelor's degree in Sociology and am also a Licensed Social Worker. I have over 20 years of experience in domestic adoptions and related Child Welfare fields, having worked for the State of Indiana here in Vanderburgh County.
I am married to Kevin and have a grown daughter (adopted) and three grandchildren, with whom I enjoy spending much time! My hobbies include reading, gardening, and antiquing.



Linda Huber - Intake Specialist
I am honored to be a part of FTIA. As an intake specialist, I enjoy helping prospective families in selecting the country program that will work best for them and answering general questions that they have about each of our programs.
Before coming to FTIA, I worked as a Christian missionary in Central & South America for ten years. Through that experience, I learned a great deal about the Hispanic culture and language and feel a genuine love and connection to the Hispanic world.
I graduated from the Cincinnati Christian University with a Bachelor’s degree in Education and Bible. I also enjoy teaching Spanish classes for Ivy Tech Community College, and am a trained medical interpreter & trainer through the Bridging the Gap Interpreters Program.
I have four children: Anne; Libby; CJ; and Luis (from Guatemala). I enjoy spending time with my family and friends, as well as shopping, reading and going to the movies.



Now according to my friends, Kevin Wallace did attempt to distance himself from Jeannene Smith. Still though, it didn't work because their names are all over the paperwork for Masha. Where is Jeannene Smith now? She is no longer with Child Promise. She is now on the board of Focus on Adoption. Lets take a look at the who we are link. Low and behold. Even though Keith Wallace as distanced himself, he didn't go far enough. Here are their board members. One of his team members is still connected to Jeannene Smith via Focus on Adoption.



Hannah Wallace is the Founder and Executive Director of Adoptions International, which has been licensed in Pennsylvania for 20 years. Hannah was a Social Worker with the Department of Public Assistance, and then a Supervising Social Worker for the Get Set program, as well as a Counselor for adolescents in an alternative school. She is a graduate of the Family Institute of Philadelphia's Clinical School, and had a practice in Family Therapy.
In 1983, Hannah's life was transformed while adopting her daughter from a Honduran orphanage. After returning from Honduras , Hannah's passion to find families for homeless children formed Adoptions International. Aside from its adoption work, Adoptions International has been engaged in numerous humanitarian aid projects in all the countries in which it has operated in response to the great need she saw for family and child welfare services.
Ten years later, when the Hague Convention and Treaty governing intercountry adoptions emerged on the scene, Hannah's life took another turn into examining the more global issues and controversy surrounding intercountry adoption. She became an active member of JCICS (Joint Council on Intercountry Children's Services) and has served on the Board of Directors for two terms, as well as being a past Vice President of JCICS. She has been a passionate advocate for ethical and sound adoption practices, as well as an advocate for sensible regulation which does not impede the opportunity for children to have permanency as early in their lives as possible.
During the "Hague Upheaval" in Guatemala, Hannah Wallace and Rudy Rivera (Vice President) developed the concept of Focus On Adoption™: An Intercountry Advocacy Organization, while organizing with the Association in Defense of Adoption and many other like minded advocates, to preserve and then improve adoption services for Guatemalan children who need families. She sees Guatemala as a beginning in the need to form child welfare coalitions in numerous countries where adoption is no longer an option for hundreds of thousands of children. She believes the entire adoption community needs a resource for educating itself about the issues impacting ICA and needs a center for advocacy to protect children's rights to grow within a family environment.
Hannah has written numerous articles published on Guatadopt, Rainbowkids, and Adoption Today Magazine. She serves on the Hague Committee of JCICS, is Co-Chair of the Guatemalan Country Caucus of JCICS. In 2003, Hannah received the prestigious Congressional Angel in Adoption Award from the Congressional Coalition on Adoption Institute.



Jeannene Smith is the founder and CEO of Reaching Out thru International Adoption, Inc., a fully recognized non-profit humanitarian aid and child placement organization. She is an adoptive parent of two daughters from China and Guatemala and has remained a strong advocate dedicated to children's issues. She has provided testimony and position statements to Congressional leaders and the media on various international adoption issues such as the Intercountry Adoption Act of 2000, the Hague Convention and implementation issues both in the US and abroad, child trafficking and international adoption reform and has presented seminars on international adoption issues, practices and processes both in the US and abroad.
Jeannene has remained involved in legislative issues, serving in the past on several JCICS committees and currently serves on the JCICS Hague Committee, Ethics Committee, and as the Chair of the Cambodia Caucus. In addition, Jeannene served on the Advisory Council on Intercountry Adoption (ACIA) Hague Committee.
She has been a featured presenter at Resolve and has served as Treasurer of the parent support group Families with Children from China (FCC).
Jeannene's current involvement with Focus on Adoption has developed from her work on legislative issues and a strong desire to create a deeper public awareness of the impact of legislation on the very children it seeks to serve and protect



Chris Huber
Chris Huber is the Latin American Program Manager for Families Thru International Adoption, a 501C3 not for profit international placing agency licensed in Indiana, Ohio, Kentucky, Pennsylvania and New Jersey. Chris has lived and worked in Central and South America for almost 15 years and currently supervises adoption programs in Guatemala and Brazil as well as developing new programs in other Latin American countries.
Chris brings a unique perspective to FOA as he is both an adult adoptee, an adoptive parent to Luis Manuel whose was adopted from Guatemala at age 6, and as an adoption professional. These varied experiences allow him to bring different perspectives on the issues currently facing international adoptions. He joined FOA to help assure that children around the world continue to have the opportunity to be adopted into a loving family.

Carl Jenkins is a former litigation attorney who now consults in non-profit restructuring, insurance coverage issues and wrongful adoption defense He is also General Counsel for World Child® International, a Maryland-licensed, international adoption agency.
After graduating from Antioch School of Law, Carl clerked for Judge Ricardo Urbina in Washington DC. Following two decades of litigation work involving family, probate, civil, criminal and corporate law, he continues to maintain an interest in the law firm of Jenkins & Povtak.
Carl is actively involved in the Hague Accreditation process through several organizations and has also served such varied community interest groups as: Peer Reviewer for the Council on Accreditation; At Large member on the Lawyer-to-Lawyer Committee for the Maryland Sixth Circuit; and served as Counsel to the Clergy for the Holy Name Order (Franciscans). He has spoken or moderated panels at Resolve, F.A.C.E., Quad A and JCICS conferences regularly during the past several years. He also has been published in Adoptive Family Magazine and other periodic journals on adoption issues.

Here is the Joke of the year with Carl Jenkins. He defends adoption agencies from wrongful adoptions. There is absolutely no protection for adoptive parents, adoptees, and natural parents in all countries to include the United States.

To read about these folks, it makes Angelina Jolie look normal. Some of these folks are adoptee collectors. They even have a disclaimer because of Jeannene Smith. Interesting thing is that she is still on their board of directors. So what is this disclaimer really for? The board of directors or those that donate to them. EXCUSE ME SERIOUSLY WHAT THE FUCK?



Focus On Adoption is a volunteer, non-profit organization. Most of our activities are funded through the donations of adoption professionals. Focus On Adoption does not have the ability to audit the ethical policies of its supporters. While we hope that only adoption professionals who agree with and operate within proper ethical standards actively support us, this is not something enforceable by Focus On Adoption. Therefore, private individuals researching adoption providers should not view an agency's support of Focus On Adoption as being anything more than the fact that the agency has donated to help us with our mission. Support of Focus On Adoption should not be considered an endorsement of any sort on our part.

Bad thing is that you really can't see who the member agencies are of the JCICS. The board of directors is something that will further enlighten you. Another common individual comes up again.

Keith M. Wallace is founder and CEO of Families Thru International Adoption (FTIA). Mr. Wallace is an attorney and a member of the American Academy of Adoption Attorneys. FTIA is accredited by the Council on Accreditation for Children and Family Services, Inc. (COA). Keith has served on several JCICS committees. He has presented hundreds of seminars on different aspects of international adoption to various audiences. FTIA is active in many aid projects for children. Keith served as Treasurer in 2004.

Oh lord is this getting dirtier and dirtier. These folks are deeply entrenched in adoption laws and practice. These folks do many accreditations of adoption agencies. So if one closes down due to unethical practices, they allow these individual operators to open up under other agency names. These folks are in the American Adoption Attorneys organization. Corruption at its finest. The JCICS helps in covering it up.

The JCICS works hand in hand with the NCFA on international adoption issues. Many of the NCFA agencies are in fact international adoption agencies. I just love that some of these folks are adoptees and natural parents.

According to Marsh, Carl Jenkins is now the connecting agency to the National Council for Adoption. His agency, World Child International, is now a member of their organization. So these folks are all connected to each other.

All through all of these biographies on these folks and the various board members, there are common links. NCFA, JCICS, Focus on Adoption, ACLU, American Academy of Adoption Attorneys, Right to Life groups, Safe Haven groups, and adoption agencies. How many children did get placed in good homes? How many did not? How many adoptees have been hurt by these folks? Why are adoptees treated lower than puppies and kittens in an animal shelter? Why are the natural mothers in our society and in other countries treated just like breeders? Why are adoptive parents treated like stupid greedy consumers? If these types of connections and links don't give you cause to be concerned, what would it take? I know that this sickens me absolutely sickens me.